With a sigh, York let out a long breath. He broke his gaze away from the hypnotic, dazzling light of the Pure Gold, his eyes regaining their sharp clarity.
He casually tossed the glass jar to Kaido. The towering giant caught it with a look of surprise and profound trepidation, staring down at the legendary artifact, then up at his Captain.
"Don't be blinded by external trinkets like this," York commanded, his voice cutting through the thick, greedy silence of the laboratory. "Our ideals are not merely shallow immortality! We have a world to conquer."
Everyone present stiffened. York's Haki-laced words snapped them out of their entranced expectation and base desire for eternal life.
York turned his attention to a rotting desk in the corner. He picked up a leather-bound notebook, flipping through the crumbling pages. Finding that the information inside was largely consistent with the tragic history he knew, he walked over and handed it to Olga.
"Your parents loved you," York said bluntly. "The primary reason they went to such extremes to forge Pure Gold was to cure your terminal illness. If you can't understand his actions, then carefully read the contents recorded in this notebook."
With that, York no longer lingered. He turned and led his core cadres out of the subterranean ruins where the Pure Gold had been sealed.
Only the officers had entered the ruins with York; the thousands of ordinary pirates had remained outside in the prehistoric jungle. Now, seeing York and his group emerge, everyone cast expectant, hungry gazes toward them.
When they saw the glowing glass jar clutched in Kaido's massive hand, the collective sound of thousands of pirates silently swallowing echoed across the clearing.
York's quick Observation Haki sweep revealed a dangerous stir of extreme eagerness on many faces.
Clearly, these recruits' loyalty could not yet withstand the ultimate test. If they fully understood the true purpose of the Pure Gold, the sheer greed would inevitably breed mutiny, mirroring the ultimate downfall of the Rocks Pirates.
However... if this immense desire was utilized correctly, it might just elevate their loyalty to absolute, unbreakable fanaticism.
After all, the Pure Gold wasn't just the goose-egg-sized piece suspended in the jar Kaido was holding. The blinding golden sun dangling from the forehead of the Bonbori Anglerfish they were currently inside was also made of Pure Gold!
That external lure was at least two hundred meters in diameter, weighing countless tons. Yet, the amount of Pure Gold required to halt the aging process and grant immortality didn't even need to be the size of a ring; a few microscopic grams cast into jewelry would be more than enough.
Thinking of the staggering wealth hanging right above their heads, York no longer hesitated.
York clenched his right fist, aiming at the fleshy, cavernous ceiling of the stomach. He drove his fist upward.
His Advanced Armament Haki (Ryuo) compressed the atmosphere, forming a massive, translucent shockwave that violently impacted the stomach wall.
The resilient, muscular ceiling immediately caved in significantly. At the exact same time, a muffled, monstrous shriek echoed from the beast surrounding them.
York watched the changes in the bubbling gastric fluid ocean below the island. Noticing that the water level wasn't decreasing but actually rising, he deduced that the Bonbori was still deep underwater.
He threw a second, even more devastating punch.
ROAR—!
The Anglerfish shrieked again, the sheer internal trauma forcing its colossal body to instinctively swim toward the surface of the ocean.
York ordered Kaido to generate Flame Clouds, lifting the Crimson Harvest flagship back into the air. Once everyone was securely aboard, York delivered a third, apocalyptic punch directly to the esophageal sphincter.
SPLASH!!
A deafening, catastrophic sound echoed, clearly audible even through the giant leviathan's thick blubber. Simultaneously, the gastric acid ocean began to flow out in a violent, reverse tidal wave.
York signaled Kaido to dispel the Flame Clouds, allowing the massive 360-meter flagship to drop into the surging water. Riding the back-flowing tsunami of gastric acid, the ship shot out through the Anglerfish's esophagus, finally bursting free from its cavernous maw and splashing down onto the open sea.
Seeing the starry night sky again, all the pirates of the Crimson Harvest couldn't help but collapse to the deck, letting out long, exhausted breaths.
Being trapped inside the digestive tract of another living organism was a uniquely terrifying psychological ordeal. Even without immediate danger, there was a suffocating, lingering dread that they could be digested at any moment. Now that they were out, that internal suppression completely dissipated.
However, York wasn't content with just escaping.
He drew a katana he had picked up earlier on the Sabaody Archipelago. With a swift, brutal backhand swing, he unleashed a massive, golden Flying Slash into the night sky.
The giant glowing lure on the head of the Anglerfish—which was still dazed and thrashing from vomiting up a dreadnought—was immediately severed at the stalk.
"KAIDO!" York roared.
Kaido instantly understood. His burly body transformed into a massive Azure Dragon, soaring into the sky with a deafening roar. Fiery, dark purple Flame Clouds erupted from his dragon claws, successfully catching and wrapping around the colossal golden sun before it could plunge into the ocean depths.
The super-giant Anglerfish noticed its lure had been severed and immediately let out a world-shaking roar of absolute rage.
But then, dozens of intersecting, devastating slashes flew from York's blade.
"Lion's Threat: Hundred Valleys!!"
The legendary sword skill, copied perfectly from Golden Lion Shiki, effortlessly diced the colossal Bonbori Anglerfish into chunks of floating meat.
Crimson blood sprayed into the air like a geyser, turning the ocean red. It was fortunate that the flagship had been thrown far enough away on the tidal wave; otherwise, the entire crew would have been drenched in a torrential rain of Anglerfish blood.
"Wororororo!" Kaido transformed back into his human form, landing heavily on the deck. "Such a huge sun! Could it all be Pure Gold?!"
York smiled calmly, sheathing the katana. "Not entirely. At the very least, there is a thick layer of luminescent fish flesh wrapped around the Pure Gold core."
Kaido smacked his lips, and the surrounding pirates couldn't help but swallow their saliva again.
"Even with a layer of flesh wrapped around it," Dragon muttered, adjusting his cloak, "the sheer size of that core is absolutely ridiculous!"
After York and his group dispatched the Anglerfish, they quickly fled the scene to avoid encountering other Sea Kings attracted by the astronomical amount of blood in the water. They sailed through the night, dropping anchor at a nearby uninhabited island.
The next morning, the crew set to work. After extensive cutting, stripping, and peeling away the translucent fish meat from the surface of the golden sun, the actual Pure Gold sphere they extracted still boasted a diameter of over two hundred meters.
"So much Pure Gold..." Stussy murmured, her eyes reflecting the blinding light. "It's a pity my Mirror World doesn't have an entrance large enough to fit something this massive."
"Should we turn back and head to Skypiea first to secure it?" Shakky asked, puffing on her cigarette. "Or have Kaido personally escort it through the sky?"
York shook his head slightly.
"No need! We are not far from the Vodka Kingdom now. You don't honestly think a 200-meter sphere of gold will hinder us from conquering a mere kingdom, do you?"
The core cadres burst into laughter at his words. Clearly, the tension of the New World had made them overly cautious.
Of course, the absolute safest place to store the Pure Gold was still Stussy's Mirror World. But without a suitably massive mirror on hand, they had to improvise. To avoid attracting too much unwanted attention from rival Emperors or the Marines, York had Kaido release a dense, suffocating layer of dark purple Flame Clouds to completely envelop the entire sphere.
Under the thick cover of the clouds, the Pure Gold's blinding glow was entirely obscured.
However, this was somewhat like an ostrich burying its head in the sand. A pirate ship sailing through the New World dragging a massive, hovering purple fireball behind it was incredibly suspicious. Anyone with eyes would know they were hauling something of unimaginable value.
Fortunately, the Crimson Harvest possessed enough overwhelming combat power that none of the greedy pirate armadas they encountered along the way were any match for them.
Several days later.
The massive Crimson Harvest flagship finally broke through the fog, arriving off the jagged, war-torn coast of the Vodka Kingdom.
Standing at the bow, York said nothing unnecessary. He simply drew his sword, pointing the blade directly toward the looming stone castles and military fortresses of the island.
"MY LADS!" York's voice boomed across the deck, freezing the blood of the thousands of pirates waiting for his command.
"My order to you is simple! Kill all the nobles on that island!"
York's eyes flashed with a terrifying, crimson Haki.
"And besides the nobles... only kill those who actively resist!"
The crew fell dead silent, processing the strict parameters of the raid.
"This is a death order!" York roared, his killing intent washing over the ranks. "If any of you dare to disobey and slaughter innocent civilians who have surrendered... I will personally execute you where you stand! Do you understand?!"
The Crimson Harvest Pirates, feeling the absolute weight of his command, responded with a collective, bloodthirsty roar.
"YES, CAPTAIN YORK!!"
After the grueling, relentless battles of the past month, their obedience to York's commands was incredibly high. But York knew that words were cheap. It was time to use a true, national-level battlefield for further careful selection.
He would eliminate those who couldn't control their bloodlust, and only the absolute essence of his army would remain.
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